The objective of the Stanford training program in Vascular Medicine and Biology is to provide an enriched environment for the training and career development of young scientists and physicians, enabling them to learn and to apply cellular, molecular, genomic, biostatistical,, and/or epidemiological tools in vascular research. This training will be carried out in an environment of active clinical investigation in order to provide a broader perspective for the trainee and to assist him/her in identifying important problems of vascular medicine. Trainees will work in the laboratories of leading investigators in functional genomics; developmental, cell and vascular biology; vascular physiology and pharmacology; epidemiology and clinical investigation. They will become the future link between the various clinical and basic disciplines, and will stimulate collaborative activities in vascular research. To provide focus and organization, we have identified five major research initiatives that constitute the backbone of the training program. These initiatives represent major fields of vascular biology, in each of which our program has documented strengths and interdisciplinary interactions. Organizing the program along these research fields has solidified interactions, stimulated further collaborations, and provided structure for training. The major research initiatives are: 1) Vascular reactivity and structure; 2) Vascular Development and Angiogenesis; 3) Vascular inflammation; 4) Vascular disorders due to lipoprotein and glucose metabolism; and 5) Functional Genomics of Vascular Disease. This program provides the environment and the support for training academically oriented talented young physicians and scientists in vascular biology and medicine. These individuals are the future of this field; their successful development will contribute to the acceleration of basic insights in this area, and will facilitate the transfer of this knowledge into new therapeutic and diagnostic approaches to vascular disease.